If you’re not already on Goodreads and you’re a reader, I highly recommend it. Besides tracking the books I have read and want to read, I sometimes get messages from authors asking me to review their work. I was recently asked by author Courtney Hamilton to review her book Almost Royalty, which is scheduled to come out May 2014. For today’s grind, I thought I’d share the book info and my review. – A.
Almost Royalty: A Romantic Comedy…of Sorts by Courtney Hamilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m a fan of romantic comedies and chick-lit, so I was excited to read a novel that was described as both.
The story is told from the point of view of Courtney Hamilton (also the name of the author), a professional woman who is trying to figure out her priorities in life while watching the world around her through a slightly cynical and snarky lens. Her hesitation to join the “married with children” set makes her an outcast among her peers, including two vapid “friends” who try to dictate her dating life based on an L.A. Eco-Chain of Dating (it’s a very involved, very shallow system). As she navigates around her selfish mother, a pretentious therapist, self-absorbed friends, and men who either want to use her for her income or stalk her, Courtney is a hot mess…but she’s a hot mess who’s funny and fairly independent, even when she doesn’t have it all together.
It took me a couple chapters to realize that I couldn’t approach this as a typical narrative type story because the scenes jump around. Once I started reading each chapter as its own short vignette, I was able to find my pace and really get immersed in the story. The writing was solid, though a little over-detailed in a few areas, and even though several of the characters were similar, I enjoyed the tiny details of personality that the author gave most of them to set them apart as original and funny.
What I particularly liked was that through the small scenes and antidotes, the full story unfolded in such a way that by the end I felt like I’d developed with the main character. Though her thoughts and opinions weren’t always made clear, her actions and voice were entertaining and I found myself both relating to her and rooting for her.
Thought not without a few flaws, I loved this book! I love that it didn’t fit the mold of my normal chick-lit fare, and even though I’m a sucker for romance, I love that the romantic aspect took second seat to a story about a real woman trying to come to terms with who she is and what she really wants out of life.
The Romance Factor 